March 14. Mother Tongue Day / Estonian Language Day. At 6:16 pm in someone’s home, sandwiched in the void between the letters (tähed) and the stars (tähed), the first light of the evening was lit. Most likely a reading lamp. The Selver supermarket’s red monster letters were lit at 6:28 pm. The precise time the stars began to shine could not be established; the driving snow intervened. Meanwhile, in the homes, it began pouring letters (shooting stars?): on the computer, in notebooks, on cell phones, in between the covers and on TV, as subtitles (Dancing with the Stars, the BBC original version). The snowfall subsided. But the cloud cover stuck hard and fast. An Estonian winter. The special hardcore edition. Until 11 pm banknotes (r-tähed) could be seen flashing in the tills, behind the letters (tähed), below the stars (tähed).

Letters, above and beyond
big and small
bills and notes
red and tall
lit and not
printed and bound
written and erased
typed and deleted
spelled-out and lined-up
served-up on screens
screens of many sizes
sending tähed
while the tähed above and beyond
are blocked by the pidev pilvisus
constant clouds
overcast simulcast
with some sunny breaks
winter in Estonia